Hogwarts: I am Snape

Chapter 104 This time it shouldn't be a boy, right?

The next morning, Snape hurried across the damp meadow and headed with his friends to the third greenhouse of the Herbology Department.

After they turned the corner of the castle and walked across a small grassy slope, the greenhouse appeared as a blurry outline in the morning mist.

Snape narrowed his eyes—besides Professor Sprout's signature patched hat, there was another familiar figure at the greenhouse entrance. It was a witch in a dark green robe, her back to them, talking to the professor.

“How…” he muttered to himself.

"What?" Abbott followed his gaze. "Oh, who's that person next to Professor Sprout? Did she hire an assistant?"

Snape did not answer and quickened his pace.

As they drew closer, the figure turned to the side—Eileen—was chatting with Professor Sprout.

“Your son is doing wonderfully in herb class,” Professor Sprout said with a kind smile on his round face. “Except for the occasional lapse in concentration that could cause a few mishaps, his grades are perfect.”

“Thank you, Pomona,” Eileen said gently. “I know him well enough. It’s good enough that he hasn’t caused you any trouble.”

“I haven’t seen this place for so many years, it’s really nostalgic.” She looked around the greenhouse, a hint of reminiscence in her eyes. “I remember it was Professor Herbert Bearley back then, he…”

Just then, Eileen heard Snape and the others' footsteps and turned around. Her eyes lit up the moment she saw Snape.

“Severus!” she greeted cheerfully. “Come here.”

"Good morning, Professor Sprout." Snape stepped forward, then looked at Eileen. "Mother, why are you here early? Isn't it next week?"

“What mother?” Eileen reached out and straightened Snape’s wizard robes. “After I agreed to let you come to Hogwarts, I told you several times that you should take your place at school.”

“Yes, esteemed Assistant Professor,” Snape said curtly, “why have you taken up your post ahead of schedule?”

“You’re just idling at home anyway, darling.” Eileen nodded with satisfaction, then turned her gaze to the two classmates beside Snape. Abbott and Pandora caught up, panting. “These two must be your friends?”

“Oh, yes.” Snape glanced back and winked at Abbott and Pandora. “This is Erin Snape. She is the assistant professor of herbalism and also my biological mother.”

Eileen flicked Snape on the forehead: "You have no manners."

“Good morning, Professor Snape.” Patrick Abbott bowed politely. “Severus and I are roommates.”

“Good morning, Ms. Snape,” Pandora stepped forward with a smile, giving an elegant curtsy, her silver-blue earrings swaying gently with the movement. “I am Pandora Flaherty, a good friend of Severus. Has he mentioned me to you?”

“Oh, of course,” Eileen paused for almost a second before stepping forward and warmly taking Pandora’s hand. “He’s told me a lot about you. For example—Severus took many classes with you, and you often did activities together. He also said you’re a very talented witch.”

Snape couldn't help but roll his eyes. Where had he gotten the chance to introduce Pandora to Eileen this summer? Eileen was just lying through her teeth because Pandora looked cute.

While Erin was talking to Pandora and ignoring Snape and Abbott, the other students gradually arrived.

Lily and her roommate Mary also slowly walked to the greenhouse entrance. Lily's red hair stood out in the crowd.

Her eyes lit up when she saw Snape, and she quickly walked over.

“Good morning, Severus!” Lily said, then immediately noticed Eileen, walked over to her, and whispered, “Oh, Mrs. Snape, you’re here so early!”

After the initial surprise, a complex expression appeared on Eileen's face. She released Pandora and said to Lily, "Lily, it's been...so long!"

But Eileen clearly didn't know what to say next; she just opened her mouth and gave Lily a strange smile.

Snape gasped. Eileen had almost said "it's been several days." He had only persuaded Eileen to teach at Hogwarts for safety reasons, but he hadn't expected it would bring new risks.

Fortunately, Professor Sprout's loud voice interrupted the awkward conversation.

"Everyone, assemble! Class is starting!" She clapped her hands, unlocked the door with a large key, and pushed open the wooden door to the third greenhouse. "Come on in."

She and Eileen walked behind a wooden table in the middle of the greenhouse.

“Good morning, everyone,” said Professor Sprout. “I’m sure you’ve all noticed the lady next to me.”

All the students' eyes were on Eileen.

“Good morning, everyone,” Eileen began. “My name is Eileen…Prince, and I will be your assistant professor for Herbalism. I hope I can help you with your studies.” Out of consideration for Snape, Eileen didn’t want everyone to know that she was his mother.

Pandora and Abbott looked at Snape curiously when they heard Irene mention the surname. Snape made a shushing gesture at them.

“She’s too modest,” Professor Sprout added, patting Eileen on the shoulder. “Eileen, well, she got excellent grades in herbalism at OWL and NEWT. I’m sure you can learn a lot from her.”

The students applauded politely. Eileen smiled and nodded at everyone, but Snape noticed that her gaze lingered on Pandora and Lily for a few seconds longer.

“Alright, let’s get down to business,” Professor Sprout continued, waving his wand and sending a dozen flowerpots floating out from the depths of the greenhouse and landing on the worktables in front of each group. “Today we’re going to learn how to deal with fanged geraniums, which is one of the essential topics for the NEWT exam and a dangerous plant that you only encounter in seventh grade.”

"The venomous geranium looks similar to a common geranium, but its stamens contain highly venomous fangs. When it senses a threat, it will spray hallucinogenic spores and attempt to bite those who approach. Today, your task is to safely collect three leaves to make an antidote."

After Eileen explained the precautions and distributed protective gloves and face shields, the student groups began their work.

Snape, Pandora, and Abbott stood around a particularly lush fang geranium, whose stems were abnormally thick and whose flower buds were a size larger than those of the others.

“Eileen probably doesn’t want anyone else to know about her relationship with me,” Snape said in a low voice. “It’s not really appropriate for a professor’s child to be studying at school, even without any special treatment, is it?”

Pandora and Abbott nodded.

At this moment, the fanged geranium seemed to have sensed their presence, its petals trembling slightly and making a soft rustling sound.

“I’ll go first,” Pandora said excitedly, putting on her dragon-skin gloves and mask. “I want to test its reaction speed.”

“Be careful,” Snape warned, watching her movements. “Its spores can give you a full hour of hallucinations.” Pandora nodded and cautiously reached out. Just as her fingers were about to touch the stem, the plant suddenly shuddered violently, several purple spores shot out from its flower stamen, and at the same time, its fang-filled bud burst open, lunging to bite at her wrist—

A flash of silver light appeared, and the opal bracelet on Pandora's wrist instantly unfolded a transparent shield, blocking the spores and fangs. Pandora cried out in surprise and took two steps back, bumping right into Eileen who was passing by.

"Watch out!" Eileen grabbed Pandora's shoulder to steady her. "Are you alright?"

“It’s alright,” Pandora shook her head, still shaken. “Thanks to Severus’s bracelet.”

Eileen's gaze shifted from the bracelet on Pandora's wrist to Snape's face, a mixture of pride and worry flashing in her eyes.

"Did Severus give this to you?" she asked softly.

“Last Christmas,” Pandora said with a smile, showing the bracelet to Eileen, “he said I was always doing dangerous experiments and needed protection.”

Eileen nodded thoughtfully, then turned to the plant and skillfully cast a few spells with her wand to calm it down.

“This one seems particularly sensitive; every plant has its own personality,” she told Pandora. “When dealing with the fanged geranium, always keep your wand handy, just in case, like this…”

Snape noticed that in the following lessons, Erin paid special attention to Pandora, almost personally guiding her on how to safely collect the leaves.

At the same time, whenever Lily encountered difficulties, she would immediately appear and patiently explain the key points of operation. This obvious favoritism left him speechless.

After class, the students left the greenhouse one by one. Snape packed his things and was about to catch up with his friends when Eileen called him back.

“Severus, could you stay for a while? I need to help organize some materials.”

Snape gestured for Abbott and Pandora to go first, then turned to his mother: "What's wrong?"

After the last student left, Eileen put down the flowerpot in her hand and asked in a low voice, "What happened between Lily and Pandora?"

"What? What happened?" Snape feigned ignorance.

“You know what I’m asking,” Eileen narrowed her eyes, revealing a dangerous glint in them, “You gave Pandora the bracelet, and you were especially close to Lily during the summer. Of course, I think they’re both nice people.”

“I think they’re great too,” Snape said innocently. “They’re all my friends. As long as we’re happy together, why make things so complicated? It’s exhausting.”

Eileen seemed about to press for more information, but ultimately just shook her head: "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. You decide for yourself. By the way, I haven't brewed potions in years. Could you make me some remedies?"

“A calming agent?” Snape asked. “It can soothe and calm agitation and anxiety… but it’s not easy to make. Why do we suddenly need this?”

“It’s for Molly,” Eileen explained. “She’s pregnant again, probably from when we were on vacation together in Albania.”

“She and Arthur had a fight about it—they already had three boys, but ultimately decided to keep the baby because they really wanted a daughter.”

“‘This time it shouldn’t be a boy!’” Eileen said, mimicking Mr. Weasley’s voice. “Arthur convinced Molly with that. But she was still a little anxious about it.”

Snape quickly calculated the time in his mind: conceived in July, ten months of pregnancy, that means delivery around April or May of next year... Hmm... Isn't that Fred and George in Mrs. Weasley's belly? It seems the Weasleys' wish for a girl is going to be disappointed again.

“No problem, I’m willing to make the remedy,” he said seriously, suppressing a laugh. “You can prepare the materials whenever you need them, or I can buy some myself.”

“However…” Snape paused meaningfully, “I assure you, this time Mrs. Weasley is definitely not having ‘one’ boy.” He emphasized the word “one.”

Eileen looked at him questioningly: "How can you be so sure?"

“A gut feeling. I suspect there might be prophetic blood in our family,” Snape said mysteriously, turning to walk towards the door. “I have to go to Transfiguration class; I’ll be late for the next one. See you later, Professor Prince.”

As he stepped out of the greenhouse, his friends were still waiting for him not far away.

“Let’s go,” Snape said with a smile. “We need to hurry. Professor McGonagall hates students who are late.”

The day's classes ended quickly. After finishing his Potions paper in the common room, Snape packed his things into his bag, left the castle, and headed toward the Forbidden Forest.

It was completely dark, with only the dim moonlight shining on the road.

The treetops of the forbidden forest appeared particularly eerie under the moonlight, and the twisted branches swayed in the night wind, casting dappled shadows.

Looking ahead, two figures were already standing under the tree—one as tall as the sapling, and the other only reaching the giant's knee—Hagrid and Dobby were waiting for Snape at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Hagrid carried his giant crossbow, a full quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder, and a pink umbrella tucked into his waistband. Dobby, on the other hand, was still wearing his old pillowcase.

"Mr. Snape! Dobby is so happy to see you again!" Before Hagrid could speak, Dobby jumped up excitedly, slapping his head with his big ears. "Dobby awaits your instructions!"

"Good evening, Dobby," Snape said with a smile, pulling two Galleons from his pocket. "Here's your pay for this week."

“Dobby…” Dobby took the Galon with trembling hands, “Dobby hasn’t even started working yet…”

"Here you go." Snape shoved the Galleon into the elf's hand. "Go buy some new clothes."

Dobby nodded, his voice choked with emotion.

Hagrid looked at Dobby strangely and said, "Oh, you're actually willing to take wages. I thought it would be an insult to you."

“Dobby is different,” Snape explained. “You should treat him as one of us.”

“Oh, okay,” Hagrid said somewhat awkwardly, rubbing his huge hands nervously. “Dumbledore said you’re to be confined in the Forbidden Forest—oh, no,” he quickly corrected himself, “to go and check on the werewolves there.”

“Although you are a student,” his thick eyebrows furrowed with concern, “Dumbledore says you are very capable, and I believe Dumbledore.”

(End of this chapter)